Kingdom Hearts III: Battle of Light
by Princess of Rose
Summary: Now, the pawns move into place..." Two months after KH II, Sora and friends witness the takeover of a frightening new enemy. Now they must stop this threat and save their King from a most gruesome fate. Chap 5 up. Sokai, Roxime, Rion references 9/9/09!
1. The Letter

So here it is! Finally… I'm actually publishing on the first day of school, so naturally that sucks. I'm in Honors so updates won't come as fast, but I wrote quite a bit ahead of time. I would have written the whole thing and published in October or so, but I thought, wouldn't it be awesome if it was published 9/9/09?

Kingdom Hearts III: Battle of Light Chapter One

The Letter

Sora unfurled the scroll Kairi had handed him. It was written completely in Japanese- the first language the three had learned. His two friends read over his shoulder, idly comprehending the words.

"Another adventure, then?" Kairi asked softly.

Sora let out a small sigh. "Looks like."

Riku put his elbow on Sora's shoulder, a good half of his weight on the much shorter boy. "One more for the home team, I guess?"

Kairi giggled as Sora fell over. "Guess so."

Sora had thought the competitive, 'I'm better than you' Riku had faded a long time ago, after he realized his arrogance had led him into this mess. But as soon as Sora and Kairi made it clear they were in some sort of relationship, he was back. It was ignorable most of the time, but Sora had grown to believe they were equals. He sighed again and dusted himself off. "So we've got three days."

"Yeah. Who knows when we'll come back." Riku glanced out at the setting sun, and so did the other two, wondering if the worlds would ever be at peace again.

--

_Dear Sora, Kairi, and Riku,_

_I hope at least one of you understands this, as the only way I can write this letter is in code. But that is the least of our problems. _

_I know it's only been two months, and I'm sorry. The worlds need us. It isn't the Heartless this time- in fact, their numbers are far fewer. I'm not sure what these creatures are yet- but they seem even more dangerous than anything yet. I've been enlisting the help of friends to get to the bottom of this and help eliminate them. On the fourteenth I'm sending Donald and Goofy to you with their Gummi ship. First see Merlin in Radiant Gardens; he may have more information. I'll meet you there._

_-King Mickey_

_P.S Sora, see to it that Kairi gets some basic training. She needs to learn to use her Keyblade._

--

"Come on, Kairi. You can do this." Sora had his arms out in a T stance, completely unguarded. Practically ever since they returned to the islands, Sora and Riku had been teaching Kairi how to fight. She was a good fighter, but she refused to spar with Sora. She didn't have her Keyblade out at all. She chewed her lip and rubbed her arm sheepishly.

"If you have to, pretend I'm Riku," Sora joked.

Kairi smiled nervously.

Sora sighed in agitation. He had to see her ability in defending herself. He hoped he could cross it off his very, very long list of things to do before they had to leave.

_So much to do, so little time…_

He looked down, trying to think around the obvious 'We're going nowhere with this.' His quick thinking mind came up with something to help her fight, and he had to admit it wasn't pretty. "Sometimes I wonder if you can even summon your Keyblade," he said in a teasing way.

Kairi looked at him, like, 'Oh no you didn't.'

"Enemies find sheepishness an advantage," he went on. "Cowardice is what attracts them." He was being an ass, he knew, and he didn't like it one bit. Taunting was the only thing his guybrain could think of.

Kairi took a step back and a flash brought her weapon to light. She ran towards him, eager to prove herself yet angry. Sora noted in the two seconds before her blow hit him she had the right stance and guard. Instinctively, he blocked the attack.

"So you _have_ been training," he quipped as she tried to beat him mercilessly. "Nice to see something soaked in."

"You're being such a douche!" Kairi cried.

"Kairi, you know I don't mean it."

"Yeah, sure… just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't fight! I just choose not to!" She smacked her Keyblade into his shoulder, and had there not been plates on his shirt, it would have hurt a lot more. Sora dropped to his knees, leaning against his own weapon, gripping his shoulder.

"I was wrong to doubt you," he apologized, even though he never had doubted her in the first place, she needed to hear it. He was smart like that.

The tip of Kairi's Keyblade touched his neck. "You're dead," she whispered. "Are you okay?"

"No, Kairi, I'm 'dead.'" Sora smiled. "Yeah. Just a scratch. I'll cast Cure on it later."

She dropped to his level. "You're bleeding."

"I've had worse."

Kairi pushed up his shirtsleeve, revealing a deep gash on Sora's shoulder. He winced, really feeling pain now. Kairi bit her lip, feeling guilty.

"I'm so…" she began.

"I told you to fight, Kairi, and you did. Don't apologize." He just didn't expect her to own him.

"I'll heal it," she said firmly. She ran her hand across the gash, moving her lips, and it healed instantly, as if it hadn't even been there in the first place.

It was then she noticed how close together their faces were. Automatically, they moved even closer, but as soon as their lips were about to touch, Sora pulled away. "How'd you do that?"

"It's called 'Healing Light.' I figured it out not long after I turned you back into a human," Kairi explained, blushing.

Sora shuddered, remembering his brief time as a Heartless. "I never thanked you for that."

Kairi blew a raspberry. "Please, Sora, how many times had you saved me at that point?"

He smiled, sitting normally now. He glanced at Kairi's Keyblade, suddenly noticing something. "When did you get a new keychain?"

"Huh?" Kairi looked for herself at the weapon. While it was still the same basic shape, it was now variating shades of blue, and the flowers were replaced with intricate swirls. "I never got a new keychain…"

"How did it change form?" he picked up the Keyblade to see for himself, but it went straight back to Kairi's hand, unlike her old one. "I guess… this one is really yours?"

Kairi smiled brightly. "I wondered why it came to me so much easier." She took another minute studying the weapon, obviously loving the feel of being a true wielder. She was then smug. "Probably why it was so much easier to beat you," she teased.

"Kairi, don't act like Riku. It's not cool."

"Please. You just can't embrace the fact that you might be less powerful than me."

"You've been a true wielder for about two minutes. Don't let it go to your head." He put a hand on her shoulder.

She turned around, smiling again. "Gees, Sora, I was just kidding. You are the Master, after all." She said the last bit with the same influence as a cheap Kung Fu movie. Sora laughed and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Come on. We have to go meet up with Riku."

_Why is Kairi suddenly a true wielder_? Mostly because her hearts is full of light. If she'd chosen to fight earlier, out of her own will, surely she would have received her real Keyblade. So far, she's only been using her other one for defense.  
Ans sorry if this chapter was so crappy. i had no idea how to style it, but it will get better. I already wrote some real dramtic parts :).


	2. Departure

Chapter Two

Departure

"So there you are," Riku drawled with an odd smile on his face. "I wondered when you would stop flirting with each other and remember to show up."

Sora flushed bright red. "Shut up, Riku."

The older teen spotted Sora's hand around Kairi's hip. He smirked. "I'm happy for you. Really. Only took you two years."

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Did you get everything done?"

"Definitely. You?"

"Mostly. I got to pick up a few things. Sora?"

Their conversation had the feel of a business meeting. "Almost halfway," he said slowly, knowing their reactions already.

"Sora…" they scolded almost at the same time.

"What? I've got so much more stuff to do. And find. Then I have to break it to my parents that I'm leaving again, even though I _just _came back." The mental list flickered behind his eyes.

"You should leave a note," Riku suggested.

"I'm only going to be grounded ten times harder. They were so glad to see me they didn't punish me, but this time they'll think…" he shook his head. "I'm not even sixteen yet." He let go of Kairi and sat down in the sand, letting out a long sigh. "And I thought I everything would finally go back to normal."

Kairi stared out at the horizon.

"Never again, Sora. Might as well get used to it."

Sora flopped back onto the beach. Kairi took his hand comfortingly. "Riku, don't say that. It might not be true."

"Maybe, but we'll still be spending our adolescence saving the worlds," the wielder shot back.

"…Which isn't an entirely bad cause…" Sora intervened.

"At least it'll be a good story to tell," Kairi murmured. "We could be like Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka. They've never even been off the islands."

"Yeah. We should be glad. Most people never get to go on these sorts of adventures." Sora glanced out at the sunset. "Blessing in disguise, I guess."

"Mmm." Kairi lay down too and snuggled into Sora's chest.

Riku sighed. "You two. We gotta keep moving before nightfall."

"Can't we just relax until tomorrow?" Sora asked, aware of the breathing person half-lying on him and feeling extremely nervous about it.

"Especially you, Sora. You said you weren't halfway done with your chores," Riku continued as if Sora hadn't even spoken. "We can rest when we're finished."

"'Chores'? You might as well call them 'tasks.' This isn't a video game." (UTTER IRONY.)

Riku rolled his eyes.

"You'd be a good drill sergeant, you know. Since you _love_ bossing people around," Sora teased.

"If I didn't boss you around, you'd forget," Riku retaliated.

"True that." Sora went to sit up, and then realized Kairi had fallen asleep. He gently laid her down on the sand. "I'll be right back," he whispered to her.

The two boys continued working on various things that needed to be done, such as gathering munny together, searching for potions to lighten the load they'd need to buy. Sora finally cleaned his room, Riku got some non-perishable food.

Sora had to admit; it didn't take much time at all. But the hardest part was writing the letter. He explained that he was leaving again and apologized for it, that it wasn't his choice, and so on. He could never get any emotion into letters. It all seemed he was snickering as he wrote it, as Sora skimmed the passage again. They would think he was running away. But there was no time to start again. He was leaving sometime in the morning and really needed to sleep, but he looked out on the ocean, the almost-full moon, and decided to go for a quick swim.

Sora snuck out the window and crept to the shore. He kicked off his shoes and dove into the water, really caring less that tomorrow he would regret this little expedition. He came up quickly for air, and looked around at the quiet, picturesque island.

_That's weird… I thought I heard someone…_

He went back to the shore and grabbed his shoes. _Oh well. _He drank in the look of the night, the ocean, trying to commit it to memory. _Not like I'll be gone forever._

--

Meanwhile, a cloaked creature watched Sora swim. **So this is the Keybearer**, he thought to himself. **He's just a teenage boy. And teenage boys give in to temptation… This is going to be easier than I thought…**

He had to report back to his partner soon, to tell her that everything was going smoothly. A small, glittering creature resembling a tadpole hopped over to him.

**"Anything?"** The hooded figure asked.

It gave the equivalent of a headshake.

**"Did you even try?"**

It chattered quietly in some unknown language.

**"Didn't want to cause a disturbance, eh? **_**He**_** would have noticed something amiss. You really must be a bit more intelligent than the others."** He stroked the length of the small creature.

**Ah, victory is so sweet.**

--

Sora found a note posted on his door. _Went out for the night, be back around noon tomorrow._

_-Mom and Dad_

The teen sighed in relief. At least he wouldn't be there when they came back. But when they realized he was gone… his heart squeezed. There would be tears.

He'd be back. The other worlds needed him more than a sleepy island. Sora found a small bag and stuffed some clothes and a few important necessities in it, like his toothbrush. He laid his usual black outfit out and crawled into bed, trying to savor the moment. Sleeping on the ground could really get painful.

--

In the meantime, Riku was watching the island from up high. He spotted Sora and rolled his eyes, but at the same time he wished he were that carefree. Then, at the corner of his vision, saw the hooded figure and the small, purple creature. He leaned forward to get a better look and almost fell out of the tree he was sitting in.

_Is that what the king was talking about?_ He couldn't be sure, as there was only one. Heartless came in masses, and Nobodies were silvery and graceful. The little creature looked like neither. Riku noted fleetingly that the figure watching it wore a cloak. _What's with all these damn cloaks? _He remembered that the cloaks hid scents of people. He had been sure that Organization XIII was eliminated. He _was_ sure now.

Could Nobodies come back from the dead? Riku didn't know much about Nobodies, other than that when a strong-willed person became a Heartless, the shell left behind became a Nobody. And that they didn't have hearts. Sora probably didn't know, because he'd fought the Nobodies so valiantly. If they had to be killed numerous times, he probably would have taken a different approach.

But Sora wasn't one to care about battle techniques.

It probably was just a person who had gotten a hold of an Organization cloak. By why did they _need_ to wear it, unless they were trying to stay hidden…? And if so, why was this man trying to stay hidden? Why was he even on the islands, and how had he gotten here?

Riku always thought too much. His own questions, melded with exhaustion, were giving him a headache. By the time he looked down again, the figure was gone. He went home and climbed into bed, decided to deal with it in the morning.

--

A loud, obnoxious honking sound early the next morning woke all three teens up. Sora groaned. What time was it? He looked out the window and saw the lego-esque ship hovering just above the water. They were here _already_? Wasn't Disney Castle far away?

They probably had some new gummi block; it was all particularly confusing to him, especially that early in the morning. Unless it was later than he thought… Sora threw on his clothes and picked up the small bag he'd packed last night; double-checking through sleepy fog if he'd missed anything. He snagged a granola bar and practically ate it whole- knowing  
Donald, he'd leave if he got too impatient. The impact of what was going on suddenly hit him, working as well as a cup of coffee.

He slung his bag over his shoulder. It was cool for the morning, maybe because he'd never seen this early. Maybe he should have brought some sort of sweatshirt. Sora wondered how he'd ever gone through snowy villages with only a short-sleeved t-shirt. It had to have been the humid, warm island that made the morning chill seem _cold_.

"Sora!" He turned towards the bridge, seeing Kairi, Riku, Donald and Goofy over there. He waved wildly and over to them.

"Hey, guys. You're a lot earlier than I thought."

"Yeah, well. We left last night. Goofy almost got us lost," Donald explained, trying to start some story.

"You made up a lot of time, then?" Riku asked, confused.

"We got a new gummi block!"

"Thought so," Sora murmured.

"The horn's new," Kairi said. "You guys almost made me deaf."

Goofy smiled, clueless as ever. "It's cool, ain't it?"

"No!" Riku snapped.

The other four burst into laughter.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Goofy asked.

"I think I am," Kairi confirmed.

"Pretty much," Riku told him.

"Not in the least," Sora said. "Let's go."

They all looked at him.

"What? Would you want to leave?"

Riku sighed. "You have a point."

"Right. We can't leave the engine running much longer. Come on, guys." Donald turned and went straight over to the ship, the other four following.

What a LAME cliffy. Oh well. And yes, it does turn out this story has an Antagonist, not just me rambling aimlessly. Ignoring the fact that this was the most poorly written chapter of the story :P. BTW, I'm going to be drawing some fanart for this. Just don't expect it to be anything brilliant.


	3. Radiant Garden, Act I, Scene I

Chapter Three

Radiant Garden, Act I, Scene I

When they arrived, Radiant Garden was in complete chaos. The citizens were running amok, fleeing from small, purple glittering creatures. They caused Riku to gasp, seeing them a second time.

_I knew it,_ he thought. Then he realized he forgot to warn Sora. _Crap_.

"Guys!" Yuffie cried. "Look out!"

One of them jumped on Sora. "Um, help!" Kairi smacked it quickly, but the thing refused to die.

"Ah, hell," Yuffie cussed, wildly throwing her ninja blades at them. "Come on! Just run!"

They all fled to Merlin's house, locking the door behind them.

"One of those _things_ bit me," Riku said. There was a wide cut down his arm.

"What were they?" Sora asked.

"OPEN UP!" There was a loud banging on the door. "Wak!"

"I told you to leave the door open!" Kairi hissed.

Yuffie yanked at the chain and a very pissed-looking Donald walked over to Sora, staff in hand. Predictably, he smacked the boy in the knee with it, causing him to fall to the ground uttering "Christ! For the love of…!"

Riku was hysterically laughing. Kairi punched him in the shoulder.

Sora looked up to the red-faced duck magician. "What was that for?"

"For leaving us behind, you big palooka."

"Gawrsh…" Goofy murmured, knowing this wouldn't end well.

Sora facepalmed. "I didn't leave you behind."

"It was my fault, guys. I forgot about you two," Yuffie covered for him. She mouthed at Sora, _you can thank me later_.

Sora nodded. As Donald turned his wrath on the ninja, Goofy tried to calm him down.

Suddenly, Merlin appeared. "Right on time, I see. As always."

"You're late," Yuffie scolded.

"You try traveling pan-dimensionally and tell me how it turns out," the sorcerer retorted. "Are you all right? I hope you didn't happen to run into our _friends_."

"Unfortunately, yes," Riku said, casting Cure on himself. The wound only partially healed. "What are they?"

"I don't believe we've met," Merlin greeted. "I am Merlin the Sorcerer. And you are?"

"Riku. Just Riku."

"And you, young lady?"

"Kairi."

Merlin gasped. "Princess! What a lovely surprise!" He bowed to her and Kairi blushed in embarrassment.

"So these are those friends of yours." Yuffie smiled evilly. She went over to Sora and whispered to him, "She's pretty. Good job."

Now it was Sora's turn to blush.

"I'm Yuffie, the great ninja warrior," she introduced herself. "Nice to meet you! Too bad you can't meet the others. They're probably at Cid's."

Leon's face appeared at the window. "You rang?" Aerith, standing right beside him, giggled.

Merlin opened the door again. "Right. Hurry along in. How'd you get here? I thought the Mayor issued a stay in place warning."

Leon smirked. "He did. But since when do I listen to rules?"

Merlin rolled his eyes.

Riku thought, _hey, isn't that my line_? Just kidding.

"Sora brought his friends," Yuffie said, throwing her arms over Kairi and Riku's shoulders. "This is Kairi and Riku."

Leon's smile was actually close to genuine. "Nice to meet you. I'm Leon, and this is Aerith."

"Ya'll forgetting about me?" The loud voice came from outside.

Aerith smiled. "That's Cid."

"Damn right," he said. He turned to Kairi and Riku. "Nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot. Sora! Why are you on the floor?"

"Because Donald was being a meanie," Sora cried, chuckling a little. Donald stuck his tongue out.

"Well, get up, I just washed those floors."

"Actually, Cid, I had to," Merlin quipped.

"Stupid wizard," Cid muttered under his breath.

"I heard that, you know."

"You were supposed to!"

Before they could actually start fighting, Yuffie threw herself between them. "Come on guys, we've got friends over."

"It _is_ like some freaking party," Riku muttered. "All 'oh, it's so nice to meet you! How are you?' Aren't we supposed to be talking about battle plans?"

"Nice to know you're so optimistic," Cid snapped. "Oh, speaking of which, Aerith. Where's Mr. Gloom and Doom?"

Leon smirked again. "You mean Cloud?"

Aerith blushed. "Uh. He's at home."

"You _like_ him…" Yuffie teased, then glanced at Sora and Kairi, causing both of them to blush. Riku snorted.

"Oh, come on, Leon, we all know you're _jealous_."

"Am not!" Leon growled.

"Are too!"

Leon began to chase the hyper ninja around the room.

"All right, all right, everyone!" Merlin shouted. "Settle down!"

Riku nudged Sora, "You're friends with these guys?"

"It does take some getting used to," Sora replied.

Fifteen minutes and three death threats later, everyone was crammed around Merlin's tea table, which seemed to be bigger for such occasion.

"So…" Sora began, unwilling to be serious. "What _were_ those things?"

Leon sighed. "They're called Mindless."

Sora raised his eyebrows. "'Mindless'? That sounds like some sort of…"

"Joke. But it's not," Aerith continued. "There has been more and more of them lately."

Riku suddenly remembered something. "Isn't the King supposed to meet us here?"

"I think so…" Kairi muttered.

"So, these 'Mindless'…" Sora kept going. "How are they dangerous?"

Yuffie looked up. "They take over the mind and the human body. They can actually _control_ your actions."

Sora felt vaguely nauseated.

"Hundred munny he pukes," Cid whispered to Donald.

"You're on," the duck muttered.

"I'm right here, you know!" Sora cried. "So… what were you saying?"

Merlin closed his eyes. "They can take over human bodies. That's what we believe they're planning- to control all the humans- they've even tried to take over other beings, I've heard, and are succeeding. Only, in this case, it doesn't matter if the heart if full of light _or_ darkness. Either is just as pliable."

Sora began to wonder who would win the bet.

"How do we fight them?" Riku asked.

"Just as you would with any Nobody. Swiftly and mercilessly."

"But they're so much _stronger_. I couldn't even kill one," Kairi told them.

"I suggest using magic to stun them first. Works like a charm," Merlin advised.

"These creatures are trying to take over the worlds, then? Do you know who their leader is?" Kairi asked.

"Not quite yet. But they must be terribly evil."

"That's _such_ a surprise," Sora gasped sarcastically. Everyone looked at him. He'd never used that form of sarcasm before. "Yeah, yeah. Bad joke. Moving on."

"Hold on." Riku sighed. "I almost forgot. The night before we left, I saw a black-cloaked man with one of those… _things_. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but they were watching you."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Sora and Kairi said in unison.

"I was going to, but I fell asleep!"

"Let me guess. I have to go around, stopping these things. But why only us? If they're not made of light or darkness _or_ nothingness, then how will it be vulnerable to the Keyblade?"

"They aren't immune to light," Leon explained. "Even though they aren't made of Darkness. Their home world must be very dim. Even lying out in direct sunlight harms them. That's why they're so fast."

Yuffie glanced around, blinking. "Hey, wasn't your king supposed to be here by now?"

"Yeah, he's really late," Aerith continued.

Sora's eyes widened. "You don't think…"

"Of course not, Sora. The King can take care of himself," Riku told them. "…Right?"

Sora pulled his chin to his knees. "I hope so."

"The Heartless are much fewer," Merlin continued. "I believe they've stopped producing them artificially." He paused. "After all, which would you want? A weak slave that acts on its own instincts, or a strong one that obeys you?"

There was a soft clinking sound as a letter dropped through the mail slot. Aerith went over and picked it up, skimming the writing. She turned her large, sad eyes on all of them. "This isn't good."

"Who is it from?" Riku asked.

"Queen Minnie," Aerith whispered.

Sora gasped, knowing what happened.

"You mean he…" Kairi began.

Aerith nodded. "They've taken over the Castle."

"What about the Cornerstone of Light?" Sora asked.

"It doesn't say."

"There has to be a way to get him back to normal," Riku almost snarled. "Right?"

"I'm not sure…" Merlin said in a tiny voice.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU'RE NOT SURE?!" Riku bellowed, scaring everyone shitless. "You're a wizard! You're supposed to know everything!"

"Just because I'm supposed to doesn't mean I do!" He snapped.

Sora took off for the Bailey. He didn't stop running until he was there, lungs feeling like they were on fire. He was violently sick out of one of the 'windows.' Really caring less that Donald would be on his ass for losing the munny, he curled into a corner, breathless. He swallowed hard, wiping off his mouth, and shivering.

"Sora?" Kairi called weakly. He opened his eyes and stared at her. She sat next to him and handed him a potion, which he gladly drank.

"Donald lost the bet," he murmured.

"I figured."

"I just can't believe it. Not _Mickey._ It's like he died."

"Don't lose hope, Sora. For all we know… there could be some sort of cure. Maybe it's like a potion." She gestured to the empty bottle he held.

"Mmm."

"Come on. The others are worried about you." He stood up and Kairi squeezed his hand.

Things would never be the same.

Eh. I got lazy. I should really revise this crap before I publish it…

Loophole: If the Mindless can be attacked by light, then how can they take over a person's body whose heart is full of light? Simple. The mind is not related to the heart.


	4. Disney Castle, Scene I

So here's your regular Wednesday update. This chapter is better in the last, but I know I can still do better...

Chapter Four

Disney Castle, Scene I

It was a short journey from Radiant Garden to Disney Castle, far too short for anything interesting to happen. But sure enough, the courtyards were flooded with Mindless. Right in front of Sora's eyes, a single Heartless was wiped out by one of the small, purple creatures.

"Huh?" He was confused.

"Leon said the Heartless were far fewer, not extinct," Riku informed him absentmindedly. "As long as there's darkness, there will be Heartless. Even if they are just Shadows."

Sora remembered briefly that Maleficent was still alive. "You think Maleficent could be in on this…?"

"I hope not," Kairi said. "Then she'll be ten times harder to beat. Even if she doesn't have some part in this, she's still evil."

"Besides, she wouldn't be involved in it," Riku explained. "That's not her type of thing. She may be powerful, but not _that_ powerful. She wouldn't want creatures with any type of willpower, or anything that might be hard to control. From what you just saw, they must have some self-control."

Sora bit his lip. "I guess you have a point." He sighed. "But do we still need to kill her?"

"Why are you suddenly all defensive?" Riku asked. "She only tried to kill you a hundred times."

Sora frowned. "If I'm correct, a certain _someone_ joined forces with her…"

Riku flushed with anger. "You think I knew she was evil? I was trying to save _your_ girlfriend!"

"You betrayed us in the process!"

"Stop fighting!" Kairi yelled. "It's driving me crazy!"

"…Truce?" Sora said in a small voice.

Riku sighed. "Fine. Sorry."

"I just don't like killing people," Sora explained. "I mean, sometimes they need to be stopped, but…" he shook his head.

"I guess you're right." Riku had never thought about it that way before.

Donald landed the ship in the Gummi hangar. Exactly like the last time they'd been here, Chip and Dale came skidding over. "The Queen wants to see you right away!" they shouted, giving Sora, Donald, and Goofy an extreme sense of déjà vu.

"She's in the Audience chamber," Dale informed them.

The five wove through the corridors, often randomly and mercilessly attacked by Mindless. Unlike Radiant Garden, here they appeared without warning.

"She wasn't kidding." Kairi struggled to hold back a Mindless. "They really _did_ take over."

"I have a feeling this is just the beginning," Sora told them honestly.

It took about a half hour to battle their way over to the Queen. Goofy knocked on the door, and it automatically swung open.

"There you are!" Queen Minnie cried in a panicked voice. "I was so worried!"

"Where's the King?" Donald asked.

"He's locked himself in the dungeon," Minnie explained tearfully. "He didn't want to hurt anyone. It's just terrible."

Sora couldn't help but think, _what am I supposed to do? I can barely stop these things with the help of my friends_. "You mean he locked _himself_ in there? But I thought the Mindless has full control of the person it takes over."

"I'm not sure," Minnie mumbled, thinking it over.

"So what happened to the Cornerstone? I mean, supposedly it wards off any enemy," Kairi wondered.

"I'll show you," the Queen said, walking over to the throne and pressing the button under the armrest. The whole floor moved aside, revealing a staircase. "Down here."

The five followed her. The room wasn't encased in thorns again, Sora saw with relief, but there was a weird sort of glow emanating from the Cornerstone, causing the light in the room to dim.

"It's not working for some reason," Minnie told him.

Sora reached out to touch the Cornerstone, but just as his fingers brushed against it, he received a very painful electric shock. He fell over, trying not to utter curse words. (Wow, there's so much Sora bashing in this…)

"Nice," Riku muttered, holding back a laugh.

Sora glared at him.

"So it's protected by some sort of force field," Goofy thought out loud.

"No, magic!" Donald countered.

"A magical force field," Goofy edited.

"We all get along so well," Kairi told Minnie sarcastically, remembering Sora and Riku's fight. "Are you okay, Sora?"

Said Keyblade master coughed dryly. "Ow."

Quickly she cast Cure on him.

Minnie, still looking at him concernedly, continued on. "The light would banish the Mindless, or at least scare them off. It's never been this bad here. Ever."

"Maybe it has something to do with Timeless River," Goofy wondered.

"It can't be. The door's not even here." She sighed. "Maybe I can talk to Yen Sid and he can open a portal…"

"Yen Sid's here?" Donald and Goofy shouted in unison.

Minnie smiled sadly. "He arrived shortly before the Mindless took over. Donald, Goofy, if you would get him, please? He's in the East tower."

"What are we going to do, Your Highness?" Riku asked politely.

"Wait for my hair to stop smoking," Sora answered. Riku stuck his tongue out at him. "Just kidding, Queen Minnie."

Said Queen turned away from them. "Well, I was hoping," she began. "Maybe you could see the King for me."

"But he's a Mindless…" Kairi trailed off. "He's dangerous."

Minnie sighed. "I guess it's a hopeless case…"

Sora bit his lip. "We'll do it," he told her.

Kairi and Riku looked at him in surprise. "What?"

He almost pouted at them. "We can handle it… Right?"

"Right," Kairi murmured, as Riku looked at him questionably. He rolled his eyes and grabbed Sora by the shoulder, dragging him out of Kairi and Minnie's hearing range. Kairi was trying to comfort the hysterical Queen.

"What were you thinking, Sora?" Riku demanded.

"He's the King, Riku. How could you just give up on him? I mean… You guys are close," Sora tried to savage.

Riku shook his shoulders. "He's a Mindless! You've seen the way they act!"

"Yeah. Free. We've never actually met a person who's been taken over. Maybe…"

"Shut up. Just shut up," Riku snapped.

"What has gotten into you?" Sora cried. "Look. If it bothers you so much, you and Kairi can just stay here. I'll go. I can take care of myself."

"Oh, no. No way you're doing this alone. I can't let you get hurt."

"Since when am I your responsibility?" Sora was struggling to keep his voice level. "If you're not aware, wasn't I the one to save your sorry butt? Besides. I'm almost sixteen."

"Sora, your problem is that you're recklessly impulsive."

"Riku, _your_ problem is that you're unwilling to help when it means your life could be on the line," Sora retaliated.

"Oh, no. You did not just say that." Riku's face was flushed with anger.

"I believe I did."

Riku growled and went to punch his friend's face. Sora caught his fist effortlessly. High-heeled footsteps pattered up the stairs.

"What's going on here?" Queen Minnie asked in a high-pitched voice. "We heard you two shouting at each other from downstairs." She saw Sora with Riku's fist in a death grip. Minnie raised her eyebrow. "Am I interrupting something?"

Sora let go of the Keybearer's arm, knowing he wouldn't have the nerve to maul him in front of the Queen. "No, ma'am."

Riku glared. "You're such a little brat!" He hissed. He turned to Minnie. "We'll just be another minute."

Queen Minnie hesitated, not knowing what to tell them. Finally, she turned to go back downstairs. "No fighting," she told them firmly. "I won't tolerate it."

Sora smirked at Riku's anger. Then, he dropped the look and settled for something neutral. "That was low. I'm sorry. I just meant that it's the _King_ we're talking about. I don't know, maybe his case is special or something. I still say I could go talk to him."

Riku sighed. "Okay, fine. It's worth a shot. Besides, we need to find out ways to know if a person's a Mindless." He wrinkled his nose. "And I am not selfish! You know I've risked my life for the sake of others."

Sora smiled evilly. He turned to go back down to the Cornerstone. "Whatever you say, Riku. Whatever you say," he teased.

Riku just simmered.

Wow, short chapter much? I'd originally had about two pages more but it was utter crap. So I added the little fight scene. And no, they don't hate each other. There's still implied Sokai. I know how people can twist this so it looks like they have crushes on each other. It's just oddly entertaining to read or write Sora and Riku fighting. To me, anyway.

Sora: You're rambling.

Me: Shut up.

Sora: I mean, seriously. It's like a paragraph. ANs are supposed to be like two lines. Not twenty.

Me: Anyway, whoever actually read the whole thing, please review. I know last chapter was crappy (I'm probably gonna revise it, too), but I only got 21 hits and no reviews. 


	5. Disney Castle, Scene II

Chapter Five

Disney Castle, Scene II

The dungeons were that of a modern jail- kind of. Thought it was obvious they were rundown. When was the castle built? The 1930's? It was clear they hadn't been touched or used since then. Staircases led them far below the ground. The stairs were wooden and partially rotted. Rats ran about, and it was damp and cold.

"It feels like a morgue…" Kairi whispered. She'd come along only because she told them she refused to stay behind.

The lights were broken, shattered for some unnamed reason. Minnie had given them a flashlight, but its light could only go so far.

When they finally reached the ground, it was off level, and half the cell doors were thrown open. Kairi gulped, inching between them. "How do you think they got out?"

"There probably wasn't anybody there in the first place," Sora thought out loud. "King Mickey's fair."

Riku was peering into the empty cells in fascination.

"Don't do that!" Kairi warned.

"Why not? Something going to jump out at me?" Riku teased. A rat scampered between his feet, causing him to jump. Sora snickered.

"Real manly."

"More so than you," Riku retorted.

"But… why would Mickey lock himself down here?" Kairi wondered.

"I guess… he wouldn't want to hurt Minnie or the servants," Sora reasoned. "At least, that's what I think. Maybe the Mindless made him starve himself or something." He shuddered.

"Sora, that's dumb," Riku told him sternly. But deep down, he knew Sora's prediction might be correct. They new little about these new enemies.

Sora blinked. "Well, I you do know him better than me."

Neither Sora nor Kairi had ever asked what had happened when the two of them were trapped in the realm darkness. It was probably too personal. Riku would tell them sooner or later, but not now.

Sora and Riku knew what had happened to Kairi that year. She's continued on life like normal, going to school, making friends, joining clubs. But she'd forgotten Sora, and the others had, too.

"He's got to be down here somewhere," Sora murmured to break the silence.

"Don't yell. He might try to trick us," Riku warned them. "Be on your guard. He might act like himself, but he might not be. He could attack you."

Automatically, the three of them drew their Keyblades. Sora decided it might be easier to fight off any potential enemies with two weapons, and drew his second-favorite Keyblade in his left hand. (1)

"That's actually a good idea," Riku said in surprise, summoning the Soul Eater to accompany Way to the Dawn.

"Well, I'm not retarded," Sora informed them.

Kairi turned to mimic them, but couldn't. "I can't do it!" She was panicking.

Sora put his hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "Kairi, it's okay. You'll learn eventually."

"But why won't it work?"

Riku raised his eyebrow. "You've had your Keyblade how long? Like five days?"

Kairi blushed and looked down. "Well…"

The Keyblade wielders continued wandering, Riku often stopping to gape at the cells. There were even manacles against the walls.

"I thought they stopped using this sort of stuff for torture," Kairi whispered.

"If I'm right, this place was built less than two centuries ago. So why is all this stuff here?" Riku thought aloud.

"Maybe the architects got bored," Sora guessed.

"Yeah, but even if they designed it, the chances of it being built are nil."

"Ask the Queen when we get back." Kairi was trying to put off another fight. Something pricked at her intuition. She turned towards another hallway. "I think we should check down here."

"Why?" Sora and Riku asked in almost perfect unison.

"Uh…" she bit her lip. "Just this feeling I got, okay?"

Sora and Riku exchanged a glance.

"Okay, fine. Ignore me."

Sora just smiled at her. He was the same, living off that sixth sense- intuition- whatever.

Riku rolled his eyes. "You lovebirds." (2)

The two blushed.

"Well, let's go. Unless you guys are just going to stare at each other all day," Riku teased.

This corridor was almost pitch black. The dim light of the flashlight only went so far.

"Way to lead us into a trap," Riku muttered.

There was a distant slam, and the three friends jumped.

"Who's there?" the voice was hoarse.

"Is that… the King?" Kairi whispered.

Sora pointed the beam of light in the direction of the voice, but he couldn't see anything. "Your majes…" Riku clamped a hand over Sora's mouth.

"Are you insane? Sora, he could hurt you," he hissed. "The King's not himself."

"Sora? Riku?" It was definitely King Mickey- it had to be.

Riku swore.

Footsteps pattered towards them, raising the hair on all three Keybearer's necks.

"What are you doing here?" The King asked.

"Queen Mi…" Sora tried to say, but Riku still held onto his jaw.

"Get out of here," Mickey told them in a hurried tone. "I'm dangerous."

"Why are you warning us?" Riku asked dryly.

"…What?"

"I said, then 'Why are you warning us?"

"It's still inside of me," King Mickey whimpered.

"The Queen's worried about you," Kairi murmured.

Silence. Then, they heard a retching sound.

"Get out of here," Mickey repeated. "Hurry!"

There was a feral snarling and Riku let go of Sora, who in turn grasped Kairi's hand and pulled her away from the potential danger. The flashlight clattered out of Sora's hand to the ground, but he was more concerned about the safety of his friends.

He ran in a sort of panic, keeping a tight grip on their arms. Sora fully trusted his own intuition to keep him from crashing headfirst into a wall, as there was many and it was dark.

But they made it back, collapsing to the ground when they slammed the door behind him.

"Gees, you run fast," Kairi panted.

Sora said nothing, only tried to catch his breath.

"Are you okay?" Riku asked.

Sora coughed. "I think so." He sat up and blinked slowly. "I guess we should head back to the Queen."

--

Minnie was waiting back at the Cornerstone. She beamed at them, then noticed their dejected expressions. "How… how is he?"

This was the question Sora had been dreading. "We weren't able to talk to him. He saw us, then told us to leave. Then he started… freaking out."

"We couldn't see him, either. It was too dark," Riku added.

Minnie sighed, disappointed. "Thanks for trying, anyway. Yen Sid's waiting in the library."

Once again, they relocated to the library. Sora went to knock on the door, but it opened automatically. Yen Sid was sitting at the King's desk, a large book perched in front of him. "I was wondering when you'd show up," he said just as Sora opened his mouth. He smiled and finally looked up. "And who are your friends? The ones you've been looking for?"

"Uh… yeah. This is Riku and this is Kairi," Sora introduced lamely.

"It's nice to finally meet you two. I've heard a lot," Yen Sid told them.

Kairi and Riku smiled awkwardly.

"So… what did you want to tell us?" Sora asked.

"I'm supposing that Merlin informed you about the Mindless." They got the feeling that maybe there was bad blood between them, or a rivalry. Yen Sid continued on. "A bit more has been found out, of course." He smiled in his weird way. "Please sit."

Neither of them said a word and the wizard continued with his monologue. "You've heard about the King?"

Sora, Kairi, and Riku nodded obediently.

"Do you know why they're so much harder to fight?" Sora questioned.

"Probably because they deal with the mind," Yen Sid spoke in such a mysterious tone Sora almost laughed. "And the body is controlled by the mind. In other words, they drain your strength for the time being."

Kairi's eyebrows flew up. "That actually makes sense. Is that why magic is one of the only things that harms them?"

"Yes. You catch on quickly."

"Kind of like the Underworld Curse," Sora murmured.

"Precisely."

"So… what else can these creatures do?" Riku asked.

"They can create illusions. Trick people into believing they're safe," Yen Sid told them.

"How do you know so much about them?" Kairi pressed on.

"I hoped you wouldn't ask." Yen Sid sighed and closed his eyes. "The worlds had a similar problem many, many years ago. I'm supposing somehow their leader was resurrected."

"Their… leader?" Sora was afraid.

"Yes. A normal human being who was also taken over. He changed his name, hid his face, and now plans to use these creatures to take over the worlds. They breed at an astounding rate."

"Who is he?" Riku asked.

"His name is Yakunan, (3) I'm also guessing you noticed the lack of Heartless."

"Everyone did," Kairi stated dully.

"What do we do to stop him?" Sora's voice was thoughtful. "This 'Yakunan' guy."

"Believe nothing you see that's out of the ordinary," Yen Sid informed them. "Beware head wounds. That's when they're most likely to take over a victim. Most importantly, _don't let your guard down._ I can't offer much more advice, but I can give you this. Sora, I see you still have the clothes the good fairies gave to you?"

"Yes."

"And you still have control over the Drive command, right?"

"I do."

Yen Sid smiled. "Take Kairi's hand."

Sora was a little weirded out, but obliged. There was a flash of light, and Sora's appearance changed. His outfit was now brilliant white, with various dark purple swirls decorating it. "Cool…"

"How did you do that?" Riku asked.

"I don't know…" Abruptly, he reverted back to normal.

"With new friends, comes new abilities," Yen Sid explained. He snapped his fingers, and Sora's outfit changed again. This time, it was very dark blue with black markings. "When you and Kairi are merged, your form changes to Royal, and when you and Riku are merged, it's Dark form. It's still as limited as it always was, but hopefully this will help you with your battles."

"Thank you," Sora said sincerely.

"You're very welcome. You deserve it."

"By the way, have you seen Donald and Goofy?"

"They are searching Timeless River for any evidence towards the Cornerstone's malfunction. I suggest you go join them," Yen Sid explained, gesturing to a silver door. "Make sure Donald resists that temptation."

"Temptation?" Kairi was confused.

"It's a long story," Sora murmured.

Hey, feel lucky this draft is less crappy than the last ones… The Drive forms are mine. You can use them with permission. I'm going to be drawing them as well as other outfits, Keyblades, and forms I've designed. Oh! And the parentheses-

(1)- I'll give anyone five dollars who can guess correctly which Keyblade I'm talking about. His right hand Key is Ultima Weapon. I'll give you a hint- Sora's a vampire.

(2)- A Danny Phantom reference. I really couldn't help myself.

(3)- Yakunan means 'evil' in Japanese.

Please review! Seriously. I like writing this too much to stop. Will it kill you to write one word? One _letter_? 


	6. Timeless River, Scene I

Chapter Six

Timeless River, Scene I

Predictably, Sora, Kairi, and Riku tumbled out the door in an unorganized heap.

"Can't breathe!" Sora gasped.

The other two Keyblade wielders gladly got off his back.

"Where are we?" Kairi asked, examining her new outfit. They were all dressed differently. She wore a knee length black dress and gloves, and despite the dark colors, her clothes gave the impression she was vulnerable.

"I look like a bandit," Riku mused. He wore a striped shirt and black pants, though the 'intimidation' was dimmed down a bit by suspenders.

"At least your feet don't look like bars of soap," Sora muttered.

"Why is everything in black and white?" Kairi wondered. "My grandmother told me the past looked this way, but I thought it was a joke… Wait! We're in the past?"

"Yup," Sora said with a slight laugh. "Fun, isn't it?"

"But why?" Riku asked. "And… how?"

"This still is a world, just like any other," Sora told them. "Just because we're in a different era doesn't mean harm can't reach here."

"Well, yeah, I suppose so. But everything looks pretty normal to me." Riku glanced around.

"They want us to check out the Cornerstone," Kairi confirmed. "But… where would it be?"

Sora just smiled at them. "Follow me."

The Keyblade master led them to Cornerstone hill. As usual, King Mickey's old friends wandered about. Donald and Goofy, in their original forms, came running over.

"You made it!" Goofy shouted cheerfully.

"Yeah. Anything weird going on?" Sora asked.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Donald said with an odd glint in his eye. He must have still been gunning to change the future.

"Are you watching him closely?" Sora questioned Goofy. Goofy laughed and nodded.

"I'm right here!" Donald yelled.

"Did you guys check out the Cornerstone?" Riku inquired. "Is it still… malfunctioning?"

Donald and Goofy looked ashamed. "Well, we don't know."

"Then what were you doing when you were gone?" Riku was afraid.

"Talking to our friends," Goofy said slowly.

Sora facepalmed.

"…You completely blew off the fact that we're on a mission?" Riku flamed. "That Disney Castle's in danger?" _Sora never did pick the brightest friends, _he thought again sadly. "Hell, it's not even here now."

Kairi wondered how long it would take them all to break into a full-fledged fight.

Sora was beginning to see he was becoming the Responsible One. "Riku, get over it. Donald and Goofy, I know you haven't seen your friends in a long, _long_ time, but you could always come back and visit afterwards." Sure, Sora could understand that it had taken them a while to remember that the only reason they felt déjà vu here was because they had lived in this era, but it still annoyed him.

Everyone was silent from the impact of such an intelligent outburst.

"You're smart?" Donald asked.

It took all of Sora's willpower not to maul the small magician. "…Excuse me?"

"I said, mpfh!" Goofy clamped his hand over Donald's mouth.

Kairi sighed after watching the whole presentation. "Well, come on. Are you guys done arguing?"

They all stared at her.

"Well?"

Sora sighed, too. "She's right. Come on, guys."

Unfortunately, before they could even examine the Cornerstone, there was a noise behind them. Everyone jumped, expecting to see a horde of Mindless, but instead…

"It's Pete?" Sora was incredulous.

"That moron?" Riku muttered. "Gees, our day just gets better and better."

"Tell me about it," Sora murmured, drawing his Keyblades. "Crap, what do they want?"

"You won't explode if you curse, you know," Riku informed Sora.

"Like that matters right now!"

Pete turned to face them. Not old-timey Pete, real Pete. He smiled- not a smirk, an actual _smile_, which reminded Sora of his previous day's bout of nausea- and said to them, "Hello. Are you new here, too?"

"Huh?" Goofy was puzzled.

"…But you hate us!" Donald blurted.

"Is it me, or is everything just getting weirder and weirder?" Kairi asked Sora.

"Everything's just getting weirder and weirder," Sora clarified.

Pete's eyebrows furrowed together. "…Hate you? But I just met you!"

Sora approached Pete, knowing he could just be gullible and this could be some trap. But maybe the dim-witted steamboat captain had gotten some brains. "Are you feeling okay, Pete?"

"I'm not Pete," Pete said, shaking his head. "I just found myself here."

"…So if you're not Pete, who are you?" Goofy asked.

"Huh," the steamboat captain looked up and thought a moment. "I don't know."

Riku shot them all with a 'are you thinking what I'm thinking' look.

_He's not acting evil_, Sora mouthed.

_For all you know, this could just be another illusion,_ the older teen mouthed back.

"What are you doing here, then?" Kairi inquired tentatively.

Pete looked happy at the question. "Why, I'm looking for the Captain!"

Everyone facepalmed.

"But you _are_ the Captain," Sora informed him.

"No, I swear I just saw him! Patchy overalls, you know? And he has a tail?"

"Are you sure you have the right guy?" Kairi whispered to Riku, who nodded.

"Yes. It has to be something Maleficent did to him."

Pete raised his eyebrow. "Well… just tell me if you see him… nice meeting you…" and he just walked away.

"That was… bizarre…" Kairi said, shocked.

"What the hell is going on?!" Sora shouted. "First, he has no idea who we are or who he is! He's actually looking for himself! And acting nice to us! The moron!"

"Sora, calm down," Goofy warned.

Said Keyblade master closed his eyes for a moment, then sighed. "Sorry."

"I say he's a Mindless," Donald wagered. "Don't they make people act different?"

"They do," Riku supposed. "I think Donald's right."

"But Maleficent has complete control over him. You never know what she'd do," Sora thought out loud. "But that doesn't matter right now! We need to check the Cornerstone!"

Everyone nodded in unison.

Sure enough, this Cornerstone also had the same glow. No one went too close to it, as Sora's experience had not looked pleasant.

"Whoever did this really went all the way," Kairi commented, slowly striding around the stone.

"Evil plans have been known to be amazingly thorough," Sora joked humorlessly.

Donald just rolled his eyes. "So what do we do about it?"

"We could try unlocking the seal with the Keyblade," Riku suggested. "It's a magical force field, which is a sort of lock in its own right. So… I think that would work."

"Wouldn't that be… I don't know… a little too easy?" Goofy asked.

"This whole problem has been too easy to solve, other than the whole issue where we don't know who their leader is," Riku told them.

"Well, we've only been dealing with locks so far. It hasn't been entirely easy. There's this Pete dilemma. Mickey still needs to be saved," Kairi intervened.

"We won't know until we try," Sora said curtly. He lifted up the Ultima Weapon. "I need your help, too, you know."

Riku and Kairi copied him. In just a second, there was a bright flash of light.

"Well, what do you know? It worked." Kairi was overly cheerful as Riku was trying to explain to her that this was most likely part of a bigger puzzle.

Sora didn't quite hear them. He was thinking… if a Keyblade could unlock this seal holding back the light, could it… there was a something missing... He dimly remembered Riku, who had been possessed at that moment in time, explain that his Keyblade could unlock a person's heart… and let out its inner darkness.

But Sora's Keyblade used light as its power. So could he unlock people's hearts and bring out the true light? And Mindless were vulnerable to the light… if he unlocked the light in everyone's hearts, would it protect them from the Mindless?

Then he remembered what Yen Sid said about the heart not being related to the mind. If darkness could swallow not only a person's heart, as well as their entire body, couldn't light do the same?

The thought struck him like a lightning bolt. What if… someone was already a Mindless? Would it still work?

His eyes went wide. Kairi shook him gently. "Sora… are you okay?"

Sora snapped out of his trance. "I have an idea."

In almost a manic state, he explained his theory to them, point out in specifics that maybe this could save Mickey. It's not like it would kill him. Maleficent hadn't died when Riku impaled her to let out the real darkness. Sora was growing more convinced of his own theory. "Don't you get it? Is this works, we can save the people that have been possessed!"

Kairi was drop-jawed. Naturally, Riku was the first to speak, after his eyes went back to their normal size.

"I don't mean to dash your hopes, but Sora, what if a person is so consumed by darkness that there is no light? Then all you would be doing is stabbing them fatally."

Sora crossed his arms. "I see what you mean… but… it's like what everyone's told us. 'There's no darkness without light.' You just don't want to admit I could be onto something."

Kairi came back from her stupor. She put her elbow on Sora's shoulder. "It really is a good theory, Riku. This could be big."

Riku blinked slowly. "Okay. Fine. Let's pass this by the Queen. I know you want to see if this works, Sora, but you could just kill the King this way."

Yes… I did figure out that whole theory by myself. 

Please review people. I'm only asking for three reviews. Three!


	7. Pride Lands, Act I, Scene I

Chapter Seven

Disney Castle, Scene II,

Pride Lands, Act I, Scene I

Sora once again found himself in the dungeons. He'd elected to go alone, but seeing as his friends were the way they are, it hadn't been an easy fight. Sora tried to remember the route they'd taken before, but his memory felt unusually dull in the pitch-black corridors. The flashlight barely made a dent in the darkness, and more than once he tripped over a ragged stone and scraped his palms.

If he'd been afraid of the dark…

Once the Keyblade master and his friends reported back to the Queen, she was overjoyed to hear Sora's theory. With her blessing, as well as Yen Sid's (who couldn't see any harm in trying, though he did look wary as Sora had explained it to him), they'd sent him off right away.

Sora didn't exactly feel good trying out his experiment on the King. What if it failed and Mickey ended up dead? Sora's heart began beating faster with anxiety.

Eventually, he found himself in the very pit of the dungeon, sweeping the dim light around the hallway.

"Hello?" He called, voice echoing. "Your Majesty?"

Listening closely and keying out his heart's feeling of foreboding, Sora could barely hear the breath of a person deep in sleep. He turned to take a step, but his body wouldn't obey him.

_I can't just attack him! He's defenseless!_

Fighting his own instincts, he crossed the few yards between the King's cell and his previous position. The heavy door was unlocked, and it opened easily. He summoned one of his Keyblades, reaching Mickey's unconscious form…

Out of absolute nowhere, something small and black-hooded jumped onto his back. It happened so quickly Sora didn't even get a chance to scream.

He had to act fast. He wasn't sure at first if it was the King who was attacking him or a Mindless. Sora grabbed a part of the creature, discovering it was a very small wrist. He picked up the flashlight he'd dropped, and shone it in the creature's eyes. It was indeed King Mickey, wriggling in an attempt to escape, and glaring at him. His eyes were tinged purple, the exact violet that a Mindless was.

_Please, let this work…_Sora prayed silently, turning off the flashlight and summoning his Keyblade again. With reluctance twisting at him, he jabbed the weapon directly into the King's heart, twisting towards the right. A bright flash lit the tiny room for a moment, and then there was nothing. Mickey had stopped wriggling in attempts to escape and had evidently gone limp.

Sora laid the small form onto the ground, panicking. _I killed him!_ He took one of Mickey's tiny wrists to check for a pulse, almost in tears.

The small hand squeezed his back. A mixture of utter shock and relief struck the Keyblade master at once.

"Mickey!" Sora gasped, forgetting formalities. "You're okay!"

"Well, of course I'm okay…" the King replied, dazed. "Sora, where are we?"

Sora almost threw his arms around King Mickey. He almost jumped up to start dancing in victory. But instead, he just smiled widely. "It's a long story. Don't you remember?"

"No. All I remember is waking up right now." The King glanced around. "…Why are we in the dungeons?"

Sora stood up, gathering the flashlight from its spot on the floor. "Come on. I'll tell you everything."

--

As they walked back to where Minnie and the others were waiting, Sora told the King their entire story so far- how they'd received Mickey's SOS note, the journey from Radiant Garden to here, all about the Mindless, and Sora's theory (now proven true) of unlocking one's heart to let out the inner light. Sora didn't tell Mickey that he had been the test subject- said Keyblade master couldn't get over the guilt- but was pleased when the King's shattered memory started to piece together.

"How did you figure it out?" King Mickey asked.

"I don't know… somehow, it just clicked. I don't know why I didn't figure it out until now." It felt weird explaining everything to the person who had acted as their guide.

"I can't believe I was one of them…"

The Keyblade master nodded curtly. "You told us to get away from you. That you would hurt us if we didn't- and it wasn't a threat."

"That's something I would say."

Sora turned to him, feeling anxious again. "Nothing's missing from your memory, right?"

"Not that I can think of."

Queen Minnie waited just ahead. Mickey ran straight to her and threw his arms around his wife.

Sora smiled slyly and strode over to where his friends were waiting. "The King's fine now," he informed them, feeling a little smug.

Riku smiled a little. "Good."

"Are you sure he's okay?" Kairi asked, tugging on Sora's hand.

Sora looked down. "Yeah. But the Mindless are a lot more… feral when they have a body."

"Did the King attack you?" Riku questioned.

"Yes… he didn't hurt me, though. But his eyes were tinged the same color the Mindless are." Sora drew an invisible ring in front of his own eye.

"I guess that's another thing to look out for," Riku murmured. He smiled. "Now we know how to kill Mindless without harming their host." He patted Sora's shoulder. "Good job."

Kairi beamed at Sora. "Yeah. Good going."

Sora blushed. "Thanks."

Riku rolled his eyes and turned to leave. "I'm going to go talk to the King. You two play nice."

Kairi blushed, too. She linked her arms through Sora's. "So… do you want to… go for a walk?"

"I'd love to…" he stuttered.

--

Several hours later on the gummi ship, Sora was growing bored. When he gets bored, he turns into hyper Sora, which would honestly be the highlight of my day to write, but it's out of place in a story like this. Ha ha.

Riku was buried in some magazine, Kairi was staring out the window in rapt, Donald was busy, and Goofy was asleep.

"Heey Rikuu…" Sora said slowly.

"Yeah?" He didn't even look up.

"Are we there yet?"

"I don't know. Ask Donald."

"He won't tell me."

Riku sighed, aware that Sora was only asking him to entertain himself. "Donald, are we there yet?"

"No!" The duck snapped.

"There you have it, Sora."

The Keyblade master rocked back and forth his seat for a few minutes. "So… whatcha reading?"

"An article. A _very important article._" I.e., go away, Riku thought.

"What's it about?"

"None of your business."

Sora tried to peer over the older boy's shoulder and read it, but Riku quickly moved away. After a few more unsuccessful tries, Riku was getting fed up.

"Oh, go annoy your girlfriend or something," he hissed.

"She's looking out the window with this expression." Quickly he widened his eyes and plastered an awestruck expression on his face.

Riku snorted.

Sora made a grab for the magazine. And Riku let out a cry of agitation. "What is it with you and my magazine?"

"I'm bored!" Sora cried.

"Donald, he's bothering me!" Riku yelled.

"Riku, we're not in kindergarten."

"Shut up! Will the two of you _shut up_!" Donald shouted at them. "I will turn this ship around this instant if you don't _be quiet_!"

Riku and Sora instantly burst into laughter, forgetting their spat.

"You just sounded like my mom," Riku choked between peals of laughter.

Donald chuckled despite himself. "Hey, I have three nephews." There was a little beeping sound from the complicated set of controls. "We're here."

Goofy jumped out of his sleep. "What?"

"We're here."

"Where exactly is 'here'?" Sora asked while shaking Kairi out of her trance.

"Pride Lands," Donald told him.

"Cool!" He was almost jumping up and down.

"'Pride Lands'?" Riku was confused.

"Simba lives here," Goofy explained.

"We get to be lions!" Sora chattered on excitedly.

"Lions…? Are you sure the King didn't hit you over the head or something…?"

"He's actually right," Goofy said. "We need to blend in with the other animals."

"You mean people, right?"

Donald snorted. "Unfortunately."

"Shit," Riku muttered.

"I will not tolerate bad words on my ship!" Donald shouted, once again going into 'Mister Mom' mode.

"Well, technically, I'm not on your ship anymore," Riku pointed out as he stepped onto the ground.

Sora began to hyperly jump around in his new feline state. "Whee!"

"He really wasn't kidding," Riku murmured, examining his new tail. He was slightly bigger than the other two, with dark gray fur. Like Sora, he still had his human hair, but because it was girlishly long, looked even weirder.

"I feel funny," Kairi commented. She was about the size of kitty Sora. Her fur was light brown, and she also had her hair. "Where'd Donald go?" she asked just as the mage's staff hit her head lightly. "Ow!"

"Sorry!"

"Kairi…? What are you doing?" Goofy asked. Kairi had crouched back, growling at him.

She would have blushed is she could've. "I don't know. I wasn't doing it on purpose."

"Listening to your instincts," Sora said in a whispery way. He managed to trip over his tail.

Riku facepalmed. Er… facepawed. "You're hopeless." He muttered.

Sora crouched back like Kairi had and bared his teeth. "Rawr," he mock growled.

Riku sat up. He began licking one of his paws and using it to clean his face. He didn't realize what he was doing until everyone stared at him. "What? I'm a cat, okay?"

"No, you're a mighty LION!" Sora yelled, pouncing into the air. Kairi tackled him midair and began pawing at his tail.

Donald and Goofy laughed awkwardly. "We should find Simba."

Sora sat up. "Oh yeah. Didn't Nala have her baby?"

Kairi immediately got that dreamy look girls get when babies are mentioned. "A baby cub! Awww!"

_Sometimes I wonder why I hang out with these guys,_ Riku thought, following the rest of them over to Pride Rock.


	8. Pride Lands, Act I, Scene II

The first official POV chapter yay! Please be tolerant. And I'm sorry if Sora's a bit OOC.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Chapter Eight

Pride Lands, Act I, Scene II

We continued to walk across the savannah. I noticed right away the changes that had taken place here. The land was less barren, the sky a little bluer. One thing stood out especially was the amount of animals.

The lionesses had been complaining about the lack of food. Frankly, that had been the first thing to go, and now their prey was back again. It was wrong of me to think of other animals that way, but seeing as I was a lion cub at the moment, it was hard not to.

Simba was standing at the very edge of Pride Rock, seemingly admiring his kingdom.

"Hey, king!" I cried, waving.

"Sora!" He yelled back. "Come up here!"

I obeyed, my friends following me.

"How are you, Simba?" Donald asked, perching awkwardly on the edge of the rock.

"Oh, it's great here," he replied. "Who are you two? Are you new here?"

"No. I'm Riku, and this is Kairi. We're Sora's friends," Riku introduced. His voice was flat. He obviously wasn't happy with his new form.

"Hi." Kairi beamed.

"What are you guys doing here? Saving the world?" Simba asked.

"Pretty much, ayhuk," Goofy said.

"How's Nala?" Donald pressed on. "Didn't she have a baby?"

Simba clearly couldn't be happier with the new subject. "She did. Her name's Kiara."

"You have a daughter? Congratulations!" Kairi's eyes were glittering.

I fidgeted a little. Before we could get too deeply into a conversation, I asked, "Has there been any small, purple creatures here?"

Simba furrowed his eyebrows. "Not that I know of. But there's a lot of animals here."

"They're not animals," Riku informed him, still in that same deadpan voice. "They're called Mindless. They're dangerous little creatures that can fully possess a person. Or animal."

Kairi and I just stared at him, a little wary.

"Riku," Kairi warned. "Be nice."

He met her gaze, tail twitching a little angrily. "Isn't that kind of why we're here? To inform them about the Mindless and check if they've made it here or not?"

"I guess so…" she murmured, a bit downcast. Then, she cheered up a little. "Can I see your daughter?"

Simba was very confused. "Uh… sure…" he turned to me. "Sora, tell me more about these things."

I launched into my explanation- what they could do, how they could be defeated. A little lamely, I finished with my way to save someone.

Simba opened his mouth to say something, when a loud roar and a cry were heard.

"Nala!" Simba cried, dashing for the King's den. I glanced at my friends, then ran after him.

"Here we go again," Donald muttered.

The den was in complete chaos. The lionesses were whispering about something. Nala was sobbing openly as another lioness was trying to comfort her.

"What's wrong?" Simba asked in alarm.

"They took her," Nala sobbed.

"Who took her?" Simba raged. "Who took Kiara?!"

"The Outsiders," Nala whispered.

"No," he gasped. "I banished them! No!" He let out a long roar that nearly made the grounds shake. Kairi jumped.

Nala turned to us. If she'd been human, her eyes would have been filled with tears. "Please find her," she begged. "Find our baby."

Kairi appeared hurt. "Of course we will!" She glanced at me, and I turned to Riku.

"What if it's a trap?" He asked in a low voice. "It wouldn't be the first time you fell for something like this."

"It's a baby," I said.

"A defenseless baby," Kairi added. "We have to save her!"

Riku looked a little pained. "Fine."

I waved towards Donald and Goofy. "Come on, guys."

--

We searched practically everywhere.

"Who would want to take a baby cub?" Kairi was still incredulous.

I sighed. "People do bad things, Kai. Not all of them are pure of heart."

Riku gritted his teeth. "Now's not the time to flirt," he hissed, and I blushed beneath my fur.

"What's your problem?" Donald asked.

Riku growled at him, and we all flinched. He gasped a little, and then regained his composure. "I'm sorry," he said, not meeting a pair of our eyes. "I'm just in a bad mood, is all."

We backtracked to the savannah.

"Gawrsh," Goofy exclaimed. "Where could she be?"

"Maybe the hyenas have her," Donald thought out loud.

"I doubt it," I said, "Simba said something about 'the Outsiders.'" I made my voice low and mysterious over the last two words to get a laugh out of everybody, but they looked at me like I had three heads. "Besides, Scar was _their _leader."

"But Simba banished them, too," Goofy insisted. "He told us. Maybe they joined forces or something."

"From what you've told me, the hyenas were mostly stupid," Riku inputted. "And these 'Outsiders' are pretty evil, if they chose to become their own clan."

"Simba banished them because they formed their own clan," I explained. "I'm confused. It would be so much easier if we had been here when it happened."

"Me, too." Kairi furrowed her eyebrows.

When we arrived back at the plain, the entire kingdom was in complete ruckus. My mouth fell open. Apparently, when we were gone, Simba had called a group 'assembly.' And apparently, from the look on his face, previous meetings had gone better.

Right away the animals informed us that the princess was kidnapped, as if we hadn't known. Some lioness told everybody, including the particularly meaty detail that their enemy clan had done it.

We plowed through the crowd towards Simba, who was fruitlessly trying to get everyone to calm down, including himself.

Once we were back on Pride Rock, Riku turned to Simba. "I know what you can do to calm everybody down," he began.

"I'll try anything," the nervous king said.

Riku smiled a little evilly. "Did you try yelling?"

Simba raised his eyebrow, and then turned to the crowd. "All right, all right, EVERYONE SHUT UP!" He roared. Kairi and I blanched at the sound. Had we been in our human forms, we would've been deaf. Riku was smug.

The animals automatically halted in their terror.

"Panicking won't get us anywhere," he told them with a firm look in his eye. "It just gives our enemy an advantage. Remaining calm is the best option at this point."

And to think, only a few months ago, Simba was so afraid of being a leader he refused to leave his den. He continued on. "We need a group of animals willing to guard Pride Rock. Another group is gathering as a search party for the princess. Anyone who feels they can't contribute can just go back to their homes."

I felt my ears slick back. I saw that Kairi and Riku were having a similar reaction, and at the very edge of my hearing, heard the sound of long claws on baked dirt. I threw Simba a look of urgency.

The populace began to clear out as they decided what to do. Rhinos and elephants took their places under Pride Rock, guarding the path up to the den. Birds and other animals that could move quickly set off in search of Kiara. But a good deal of the crowd fled beyond the Savannah.

"You're a good king, Simba," Goofy commented.

"I have to be," the lion replied frankly. "What's wrong, Sora?"

I opened my mouth, but Riku cut me off.

"I heard something coming," he told Simba. "Something with nails. Long nails."

Simba snarled. "Zira…"

"Who?" Kairi was confused.

"_Zira_," Simba hissed through gritted teeth. "She's the Outsider's leader right now."

"So it's her?" Kairi asked.

Simba turned to her, but before he could say anything, the scraping grew louder. We all looked down and saw a grey lioness speckled with dark spots. She pounced and effortlessly pulled herself up to us, the sound making us all wince, except Simba, who was too immersed in hatred. He stepped back and roared.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the King," the lioness spat. "It's nice to see you again."

"Give her back!" He yelled.

The lioness put on a look of false shock and innocence. "Whatever are you talking about?"

"You know very well what!"

"I'm afraid I do not. Poor little cub was snatched right in front of our eyes. But if you meet me in the graveyard, I might be able to tell you more…" She turned around and flicked her tail. "Otherwise… well, it's best you don't know."

Without even waiting for a response, she jumped from the rock and landed effortlessly about fifty feet below.

"Who was that?" Goofy asked.

"That was Zira," Simba growled. "We have to go after her!"

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Riku murmured.

"Me too," I whispered.

Kairi jumped up. "Simba's right! We have to go after her!"

Riku and I exchanged a glance.

"It's a trap," Riku mouthed at me.

"I know," I mouthed back.

But we had no choice- Simba and Kairi had already darted ahead.

Duh duh dun XD

Please review.

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